I hate quoting myself but I remember him saying in a past interview that he couldn't wait for 2018 to be over. If he's superstitious and pins everything on 2018, maybe he has a bit of a resurgence in him?

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It doesn’t even necessarily have to be superstition. I think mentally he’s just trying to give himself a reset. He was fine in 2017, so now that he’s through 2018, he can get back to his game.

If Lucic can now get back to 20-25 goals, and 45-55 points, it’s indescribably huge for this team. That means instead of having to use assets just to get rid of him, those assets can be used to bring in another top 6er. 2 top 6 wingers, or zero top 6 wingers... let’s hope the Looch we’re seeing right now sticks around

It doesn’t even necessarily have to be superstition. I think mentally he’s just trying to give himself a reset. He was fine in 2017, so now that he’s through 2018, he can get back to his game.

If Lucic can now get back to 20-25 goals, and 45-55 points, it’s indescribably huge for this team. That means instead of having to use assets just to get rid of him, those assets can be used to bring in another top 6er. 2 top 6 wingers, or zero top 6 wingers... let’s hope the Looch we’re seeing right now sticks around

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Hell a 15 goal and 30 point pace would be considered great from me given where he was in 2018.

It doesn’t even necessarily have to be superstition. I think mentally he’s just trying to give himself a reset. He was fine in 2017, so now that he’s through 2018, he can get back to his game.

If Lucic can now get back to 20-25 goals, and 45-55 points, it’s indescribably huge for this team. That means instead of having to use assets just to get rid of him, those assets can be used to bring in another top 6er. 2 top 6 wingers, or zero top 6 wingers... let’s hope the Looch we’re seeing right now sticks around

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If he goes on a tear down the stretch here, it would be a boon to trading him this summer which is an absolutely necessary move for this team to make.

Hell a 15 goal and 30 point pace would be considered great from me given where he was in 2018.

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Oh absolutely. Especially because that would make him, at worst, our 5th best forward. And even a 15 goal, 30+ point Lucic is at least tradeable, without retention, to any budget team (given his salary is only 2/3 of his caphit). That at least gives us flexibility with the cap, without having to pay a big cost to ditch his contract if we need to.

If he goes on a tear down the stretch here, it would be a boon to trading him this summer which is an absolutely necessary move for this team to make.

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It depends. If we think he can return to form, and stay there, it’s not the worst thing to keep him. He’s a nightmare for the opposition, and you need those guys come playoff time. Plus, it’s not like he’s on a Backes type contract where you’re expecting his body to break down. He’s healthy and only signed until 34. But I can definitely see the case for trading him while he’s tradable.

It depends. If we think he can return to form, and stay there, it’s not the worst thing to keep him. He’s a nightmare for the opposition, and you need those guys come playoff time. Plus, it’s not like he’s on a Backes type contract where you’re expecting his body to break down. He’s healthy and only signed until 34. But I can definitely see the case for trading him while he’s tradable.

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A week ago he was a buyout candidate. I've zero confidence he can return to form and stay there. Let some other team take that bet.

Hell a 15 goal and 30 point pace would be considered great from me given where he was in 2018.

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Exactly. At 15g/30p, he is contributing. Sure, he'd still be massively overpaid, but at least he would be around a "push" for impact on the roster, maybe even have a slight positive effect. I'd take 15g/30p all day everyday at this point.

I was just talking with a guy at work about this. I seriously doubt he hits 10 goals this year, but anything above 10 would have to be considered a HUGE win. He has 4 goals through 47 games this year. He'd need 6 more in the remaining 35 games, for a goal every 6 games.

I was just talking with a guy at work about this. I seriously doubt he hits 10 goals this year, but anything above 10 would have to be considered a HUGE win. He has 4 goals through 47 games this year. He'd need 6 more in the remaining 35 games, for a goal every 6 games.

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If he truly returned to form though (i.e. approximately 20 per 80 games) its well within range.

His historical production even just looking at the couple calendar years before 2018 he'd be considered likely to put up about 8 goals over that stretch. Even if we take it back to January 1st, 9 goals over 43 games is actually below his usual pace over pretty much any such stretch of his career until 2018.

10 goals on the season is a reasonable projection if he truly playing to his potential. What remains to be seen is whether that is indeed the case.

I was just talking with a guy at work about this. I seriously doubt he hits 10 goals this year, but anything above 10 would have to be considered a HUGE win. He has 4 goals through 47 games this year. He'd need 6 more in the remaining 35 games, for a goal every 6 games.